Nick Hind?
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Yep, that is definitely Hind.
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Nope. Definitely front.
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We all know Nick Obrien, but Nick Hind was one of the best VFL players against Sandringham , running off half back. Dont know much about him, but up in Ballarat he is a star. One to watch this season. #57.
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Should probably stop being so slack and post a review, seeing I didnāt bother with one from last week. Thisāll be a mixture. Given I havenāt attended a VFL game in 2+ years I couldnāt pick some guys out of a lineup, so I wonāt comment on them. Might bother bringing the notepad next time as that provides better reviews.
As a general overall viewpoint, whilst VFL grounds donāt allow much space so foot speed can be covered for much better, I do wonder whether weāre going to be found out a bit with OāBrien, Hocking, Bird, Clarke, Mutch, Holmes running through the midfield, as all of them are one paced and none of them are elite kicks, Mutch is probably the best of them and he is only decent to good. Certainly the Zebras had a better mix of pace and skill.
Jackson Merrett - So last week whilst Blitz was blowing its load over him kicking 5 goals, being at the game I was decidedly unimpressed as 3 of the 5 were cheapies against a VFL kid who got sucked into the play and once Connor Menadue went to him in the last he barely touched it. This week again he had an opponent that like Menadue paid attention to him, and he was all the worse for it. He tried his usual sprint back to the goal square once a forward marks on 50, Iāve seen him do this so often the past 2 weeks, Iām not sure whether it is a set play, or he just likes getting cheap goals at the top of the square, last week 2 if not 3 of his 5 were scored this way, this week 1 of his 2 were. He did try it on a few more occasions but his opponent was with him step-by-step. Seemed a bit iffy below his knees this week, that I didnāt notice last week, though that could be the difference between the training drill of last week and a team that put consistent pressure on players. Completely gave up on chasing Conellen who was only half a metre in front of him, which allowed Conellen to run another 10-15m - now Conellen is extremely quick, but as one of the few players in the side quick enough to possibly put chasing pressure on him, that was extremely disappointing.
Kobe Mutch - Against Richmond he spent the 2nd half kicking helicopter punts whenever he went for a long kick, which favoured their backs more than his teammates. So the most pleasing thing personally was there was very little of that this week. His short kicking is very neat, but Iām still not convinced his long kicking technique doesnāt need a slight bit of tweaking. He just naturally knows how to find space, which makes up for a lack of pace. Hadnāt seen the kamikaze marking previously which was a nice addition. At present he is being played mostly outside as he is the most balanced guy of the mids (that can find just as much ball outside, as inside), but his inside game at junior level was very good as well.
Clarke - Iām higher on him than most, but this wasnāt one of his better games. As has been noted, his kicking (read: ball drop) is the sort of horror story footballers would tell around a campfire. The issue for me is more when he isnāt stationary, when stationary Iāve generally seen him hit short kicking targets without issue even though it looks awkward, trying to move/run with the ball drop leaves a chasm between intention and reality as the ball can veer off at 45 degree angles. The kicking was a known issue though and one that the club would back itself to fix, Iām not sure whether theyāll try and make subtle changes within the season, or wait until the end of the year for a more complete technical overhaul. One thing Clarke does exceptionally well is get his hands free when being tackled and get the ball out to a team mate, he also has excellent vision around the contest to find players around the contest better placed to dispose of the ball. If they fix the kicking, I think he and Kobeās skill sets will complement each other.
Matt Dea - Tried hard both weeks, but the errorsā¦last week he had what Iād call a Cam Sutcliffe game by foot - 75% decent, 25% how on earth do you ā ā ā ā a kick up that badly under zero pressure. This week I didnāt notice any look away bad kicking moments but he directly cost us 2 goals, one by panicking the other, through a lack of judgment.
Shaun McKernan - An interesting player to watch as within the same game you could produce one highlight package which would convince you he was a star in the making, and another would make you question why he is playing at a higher level than D grade. He has brief moments of brilliance the pack mark and goal, then you have moments like dropping uncontested chest marks, or pulling up a chair and drinking a beer whilst his opponent a mere half metre away takes an uncontested mark in the square. Wouldāve cut him loose and taken Tom Goodwin personally.
James Stewart - His big weapon is leading at the ball carrier which works great at TAC level and in games like last week where the pressure is nonexistent and the defence refuses to block space, this was largely nullified for it was a good learning game for him. He does need to improve his contested marking, but he doesnāt drop his head and will make second and third efforts, for a big guy his agility and ability below his knees is good. Personally I think it is possibly particularly on a big ground like the MCG, to play Hooker, Stewart and Joe - just have one or both leading to the wings/playing slightly higher.
T-Bell - Thought Longer pantsed him in the first term as far as being effective, but he slowly improved. Whilst he had 39 HOs, it really wasnāt until the second half that there was any noticeable ones to advantage which helped our midfield get on top. Hard to rate his around the ground game, as Longer is nonexistent outside of HOs, he did win some clearances though.
Begley - Needed to kick better, but he is a work in progress. Does still need to improve his tank as I donāt think itāll be the last time he get exposed defensively this season.
Hind - Our best VFL player personally.
Aaron Francis - Helped bring the game back. He does a lot of little things extremely well, intelligent taps and that sort of thing that shows his intelligence out there. I think the key with Francis is going to be playing him in a position where he is going to be involved more - which for me isnāt forward.
Hartley - Held up OK given the lack of pressure we put on their backs and mids delivering the ball in the first half.
Bird/Hocking - Pretty much what you would expect. To me Bird is that slight bit classier than Hocking by hand and foot, so Iād be playing him ahead of Hocking if you want another depth mid.
McNiece, Morgan, Draper - Couldnāt pick them out of a lineup so Iāll defer to those who can.
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Great write up Dunlop, is Francis ready for the big dance or does he need more time in the vfl ?
I could see them bringing him in, by virtue of the impact he has when he gets the ball, but personally Iād want to see a 4 quarter game out of him at VFL level first before bringing him in. Iād dangle the Melbourne game as a carrot with the short break for the AFL guys, play him in the midfield this week for as much as his tank can stand and see what happens.
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Quote of the day!
No no no. As explained above, promotion is as for any rookie. Die blitz urban myth, die!
Still 99% sure the rule was the same as for any other rookie.
Only exception was last year due to the bans and top-ups.